Deviant: No Longer Human

The first sentinel turned, his voice tight with urgency. "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!" he called, but his words barely breached the thick walls of the chamber.

Inside, the Emperor continued, oblivious to the creeping danger, his laughter mingling with the soft giggles of his consorts.

It was a perfect morning, or so it seemed, until the first shadow fell across the sunlit threshold.

The darkness spilled like ink across the land, swift and silent.

It touched the flora, and within moments, the vibrant greens turned to ashen gray, their life force sucked dry.

Animals caught in the path of the tar screamed in agony, their bodies freezing before shattering into fragments, leaving flesh and blood.

Back in the palace, the sentinel\'s voice finally pierced the veil of indulgence. "My lord, please—something terrible descends upon us!" he shouted, breaking into the chamber.

"What!?"

The Emperor\'s eyes flicked toward the window, his brow furrowing as he witnessed the dark tide engulfing his domain.

"Huh?" The women at his side clung to each other, their faces pale with dread.

The Emperor rose, his authority undiminished even as fear clawed at his heart. "To arms!" he yelled, but his command fell on deaf ears.

His guards, once ready to defend, were now statues of ice, their expressions etched in eternal terror.

The dark tar seeped through the palace walls, unstoppable and corrupting.

It slithered across the floors, climbing up the legs of unsuspecting servants and nobles alike.

Screams filled the air, a symphony of despair, as each person it touched convulsed violently, their heads bursting in fountains of blood, painting the floor with their lifeblood.

"Squelch!" The vile noise echoed through the halls as another servant\'s head exploded, a geyser of blood spurting from the neck, drenching the walls in scarlet.

Inside the throne room, the Emperor stood frozen, not with the tar\'s touch but with horror, as he watched his empire crumble into chaos.

His wives, now gripped by the foul substance, turned their pleading eyes towards him, their bodies beginning to stiffen.

"My love, forgive us..." whispered one, before her head exploded, showering him with blood and remnants of what once was.

"Squish!" Her head burst open, the sound loud in the still air, followed by the sickening splash of her lifeblood hitting the floor.

"NNOOOO!!!" The Emperor, now alone amidst the carnage, fell to his knees.

His palace, once a beacon of power and beauty, was now a mausoleum of his failures.

As the tar enveloped him, his last thoughts were of despair and disbelief.

"Squish!"

Outside, the once-mighty Sun Palace stood silent, a dark monument to the night\'s horror.

The land around it was no longer golden but a chilling black, with rivers of blood flowing like the very veins of the earth.

The Ancient Sun Dynasty, known across the continents for its might and splendor, had fallen.

News spread like wildfire, the tales growing darker with each telling—overnight, an entire empire had been erased, covered by a mysterious dark substance that left behind only lakes of blood as a curse to its existence.

___________

"Squish!"

As the Emperor\'s head burst like a ripe peach under the celestial wheel, Wang Xiao, aloft and observing from the skies, permitted a faint smile to grace his face.

Flanking him stood his daughters, their faces as pale as the moonlight against the now darkened sky.

When he had whispered promises of showing them a sight of profound interest, they had not envisioned this—a dynasty fading into the abyss at his mere whim.

"It is so ugly..." Wenxi murmured, turning her face away, her delicate features twisted in distaste.

Yue, her gaze complicated and clouded with thoughts unspoken, beheld the carnage with eyes wide.

Confusion etched her usually serene expression as she pondered Wang Xiao\'s intentions.

Why subject them to this display?

They had long since understood the nature of their father—a man far removed from the path of righteousness, a detail neither daughter found troubling.

For them, the measure of the man was not his goodness to the world but to them.

This was the doctrine of their upbringing.

They had witnessed, not without a mix of horror and fascination, their father use his enemies as subjects in live dark experiments—merging the ancient arts of healing with the brutal new science of surgery and modern medicine.

That chamber of horrors, from which even Eveline recoiled, had once been peeped Yue in a moment of curiosity, leading her to throw up without a next moment\'s thought.

Thus, to bring them here—was it to showcase his might?

Or perhaps to impart a lesson in the stark realities of power?

The weight of his legacy was heavy; the consequences of their existence far-reaching.

Yue came to grasp that this spectacle was a method of schooling them in the responsibilities that their positions hold.

In the dance of the future, they must tread lightly, lest the innocent pay in blood for their missteps.

Perhaps it was merely a quarrel sparked by a careless word with a young master—yet they must master the art of defusing such sparks.

For should \'he\' descend for their help, the devastation following would be the endgame.

It was not merely a warning to the world, but a play written for them, to understand or not—it was their choice.

As for the sacrifice of millions of innocent lives, from the perspective of Wang Xiao, they simply merged with the cosmos, earlier perhaps than fate intended.

Soon, new souls would emerge in this eternal cycle; those who aspire to etch their names into legend often forget that every saga must find its twilight.

Stories end...

Yet they overlook that with each conclusion springs a new beginning—an infinite loop where only the enlightened grasp the profundity of such cycles.

Their souls, now free, would nourish the nascent generations, the spilled blood enriching the soil beneath their feet.

In this grand universe, nothing is truly lost, for in the cosmos\'s vast library, nothing can be destroyed—only transformed.

______

Back in the Ancient Pavilion, the atmosphere was thick with the rich aroma of spices and the gentle murmur of conversation.

Less than an hour had passed since Wang Xiao had erased an entire dynasty from existence, unbeknownst to those gathered here.

Seraphina, engaged in a deep discussion with Olivia, paused mid-sentence as the melodious jingle of the doorbell echoed through the space.

William and Jamie, seated to the side, glanced up briefly before returning their attention to their quiet chat.

Snow and Xavier, the twin royals of the fallen Sun Dynasty, were savoring their meals, their participation in the conversation minimal but present.

Jingle... Jingle...

As the door swung open, it announced Mary\'s arrival with cheerful, clinking bells.